cobrir — Portuguese conjugation
to cover
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
The presente covers routines, states, and immediate future with adverbs like hoje or amanhã. One present form covers both English simple and progressive readings in most situations.
Ela estuda português todas as noites.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | cubro | I cover |
| tu | cobres | you cover |
| você | cobre | you cover |
| ele/ela | cobre | he/she/it covers |
| nós | cobrimos | we cover |
| vós | cobris | you (pl.) cover |
| vocês | cobrem | you (pl.) cover |
| eles/elas | cobrem | they cover |
Preterite (Pretérito perfeito simples) Regular
The pretérito perfeito simples is a sharp, completed past. In European Portuguese it is the standard story-telling past; Brazilian usage often prefers the compound form in speech while keeping the simple for narrative and writing.
Ontem escreveu a carta inteira de uma vez.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | cobri | I covered |
| tu | cobriste | you covered |
| você | cobriu | you covered |
| ele/ela | cobriu | he/she/it covered |
| nós | cobrimos | we covered |
| vós | cobristes | you (pl.) covered |
| vocês | cobriram | you (pl.) covered |
| eles/elas | cobriram | they covered |
Imperfect (Pretérito imperfeito) Regular
The imperfeito describes past background, repeated actions, and how things used to be. Contrast it with the simple preterite for the “main event” line of a story.
Quando era criança, brincava na praia.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | cobria |
| tu | cobrias |
| você | cobria |
| ele/ela | cobria |
| nós | cobríamos |
| vós | cobríeis |
| vocês | cobriam |
| eles/elas | cobriam |
Conditional (Condicional) Regular
The condicional is for polite offers, soft questions, and hypothetical “would” outcomes, and it often closes a se + imperfeito do subjuntivo chain in formal style.
Você poderia me explicar outra vez?
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | cobriria | I would cover |
| tu | cobririas | you would cover |
| você | cobriria | you would cover |
| ele/ela | cobriria | he/she/it would cover |
| nós | cobriríamos | we would cover |
| vós | cobriríeis | you (pl.) would cover |
| vocês | cobririam | you (pl.) would cover |
| eles/elas | cobririam | they would cover |
Future (Futuro do presente) Regular
The futuro do presente states future facts; in everyday conversation you will often hear ir + infinitive or even the present with a time adverb instead of the synthetic future.
Amanhã faremos a reunião mais cedo.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | cobrirei | I will cover |
| tu | cobrirás | you will cover |
| você | cobrirá | you will cover |
| ele/ela | cobrirá | he/she/it will cover |
| nós | cobriremos | we will cover |
| vós | cobrireis | you (pl.) will cover |
| vocês | cobrirão | you (pl.) will cover |
| eles/elas | cobrirão | they will cover |
Present perfect (Pretérito perfeito composto) Irregular
The pretérito perfeito composto uses ter or haver plus the participle for a past that still touches the present or happens repeatedly up to now — a “have done” perfect with strong links to European norms.
Tenho pensado nisso há semanas.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tenho coberto | I have covered |
| tu | tens coberto | you have covered |
| você | tem coberto | you have covered |
| ele/ela | tem coberto | he/she/it has covered |
| nós | temos coberto | we have covered |
| vós | tendes coberto | you (pl.) have covered |
| vocês | têm coberto | you (pl.) have covered |
| eles/elas | têm coberto | they have covered |
Pluperfect (Mais-que-perfeito composto) Irregular
The mais-que-perfeito composto is the pluperfect: an action was already finished before another past reference. It mirrors the English “had already”.
Já tinham saído quando chegámos.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | tinha coberto | I had covered |
| tu | tinhas coberto | you had covered |
| você | tinha coberto | you had covered |
| ele/ela | tinha coberto | he/she/it had covered |
| nós | tínhamos coberto | we had covered |
| vós | tínheis coberto | you (pl.) had covered |
| vocês | tinham coberto | you (pl.) had covered |
| eles/elas | tinham coberto | they had covered |
Conditional perfect (Condicional composto) Irregular
The condicional composto expresses a counterfactual “would have” and appears with the right kind of if-clause in the subjunctive past for unreal conditions.
Teria aceite se tiveses avisado com antecedência.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | teria coberto |
| tu | terias coberto |
| você | teria coberto |
| ele/ela | teria coberto |
| nós | teríamos coberto |
| vós | teríeis coberto |
| vocês | teriam coberto |
| eles/elas | teriam coberto |
Future perfect (Futuro composto) Irregular
The futuro composto is the future-in-the-future: something will be finished before a later time. It is less frequent than the simple future but still useful for deadlines.
Até sexta, teremos lido tudo o relatório.
| Pronoun | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| eu | terei coberto | I will have covered |
| tu | terás coberto | you will have covered |
| você | terá coberto | you will have covered |
| ele/ela | terá coberto | he/she/it will have covered |
| nós | teremos coberto | we will have covered |
| vós | tereis coberto | you (pl.) will have covered |
| vocês | terão coberto | you (pl.) will have covered |
| eles/elas | terão coberto | they will have covered |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Conjuntivo presente) Regular
The present subjunctive appears after want, hope, fear, and impersonal triggers, and typically requires a new subject in the subordinate clause, just as in the other main Romance languages.
Espero que encontres o caminho fácil.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | cubra |
| tu | cubras |
| você | cubra |
| ele/ela | cubra |
| nós | cubramos |
| vós | cubrais |
| vocês | cubram |
| eles/elas | cubram |
Imperfect subjunctive (Conjuntivo pretérito imperf.) Regular
The imperfect subjunctive in se + subjunctive → condicional is the classic “if I were a rich man” line in European Portuguese, parallel to the Spanish -ra form.
Se tivesse mais tempo, aprenderia outro idioma.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| eu | cobrisse |
| tu | cobrisses |
| você | cobrisse |
| ele/ela | cobrisse |
| nós | cobríssemos |
| vós | cobrísseis |
| vocês | cobrissem |
| eles/elas | cobrissem |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular
The affirmative imperative in Portuguese is built with tu, você, nós, vós, and vocês forms; Brazilian norms favour você/vocês with third-person present verb shapes.
Diga a verdade, por favor.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | cobre |
| você | cubra |
| ele/ela | cubra |
| nós | cubramos |
| vós | cobri |
| vocês | cubram |
| eles/elas | cubram |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
Negative commands require não plus the present subjunctive for each person, which is a distinctive feature compared to other Romance systems that reuse present indicative in some slots.
Não falemos com pressa, está tudo calmo.
| Pronoun | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| tu | não cubras |
| você | não cubra |
| ele/ela | não cubra |
| nós | não cubramos |
| vós | não cubrais |
| vocês | não cubram |
| eles/elas | não cubram |